By Obiabin Onukwugha
Stakeholders have called on the federal government to formulate a deliberate environmental remediation framework that will restore polluted lands and communities of the entire Niger Delta region.
They made the call at a Stakeholders Meeting organised by the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday.
In his submissions, Chairman, Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC), Eastern Zone, Comrade Datolu Sukubo noted that over the years, only Ogoni is being remediated because of their struggle and the shutdown of their oil wells.
He regretted that international oil companies were divesting without remeding the environment.
“We want to appeal that the NNPCL should come up with a deliberate environmental remediation framework and form a strategic partnership with the IOCs, indigenous oil companies so that there will be a timely and effective clean up of our environment,” he said.
Sukubo noted that during flood there is a reverse circulation of spill. His words: “Those spill that already spread comes back and damage our lands. Even though, like the coastal region we are predominantly fishermen, our lands were fertile for agricultural purposes but because of the vast pollution from crude oil exploration, most of our land are no longer fertile for agricultural purposes.
“Over the years, only Ogoni is being remediated because of their struggle and the shutdown of their oil wells. But what of other communities that exploration has been taking place on daily basis.
“So NNPCL should come up with a deliberate policy to timely clean up the environment so that our land can be revamped to sustain agricultural products,” Sukubo emphasised.
The youth leader stated that the failure of IOCs and indigenous oil companies to implement the local content law in the Niger Delta region was also contributing to pipeline vandalism.
“Another way to reduce some of these challenges is to engage our over-populated graduates that are jobless. Nigeria is transitioning from theoretical education to craftsmanship.
“You can be a graduate but if you don’t have skills you can be idle. We have come to realize that in the Niger Delta there is no proper compliance of the local content law. IOCs come in with their people and they come with them because they feel we don’t have the expertise to work there.
“A graduate can work in an oil company if he is properly trained, given the right skill. If these policies are strictly complied I think gradually the agitation within the Niger Delta will reduce,” he assured.
While commending traditional rulers, youths and women of the region for their immense contributions to the stability of pipelines in their communities, Sukubo lamented the role of IOCs in communal crisis, which he said has further insecurity. He emphaised that where there are grievances all parties must be carried along,
“It is very obvious that most of our communities are faced with internal issues, especially from the traditional aspect. We have land disputes, kingship tussles, which has over time created a vacuum for grievances.
“The aggrieved ones most times are those engaging in vandalisation because, we cannot hide the fact that in the Niger Delta, why most of our communities are having setbacks is because of the inability to properly manage ourselves.
Over the decades, IOCs that have operated don’t care about our leadership, don’t care about our communities. In fact in most cases it is the IOCs that sponsor some faction of the cases in order not for the community to be in unity.
“As a youth leader who has experienced this over the years in our communities, I will appeal to our communities and host communities leaders and also the Pipeline Infrastructure to reduce some of these challenges so that communities will have a sense of ownership of what they are struggling for.
“These natural resources are meant for all of us. No matter how we try, no matter how we go to court, in fact, we spend more in court because we go extra mile thinking these resources are permanent.
“Today we are seeing that most of the IOCs have vacated our communities, but their assets are still on our land. No proper environmental remediation policy,” the youth leader stated.
Also, the Chief of Staff to Eze.Ekpeye III of Ekpeye ethnic nationality, High Chief Rowland Ebelechi, lamented that pollution caused by third party interference and oil bunkering have been left to pollute farmlands without any plans to clean them.
He called on NNPCL Project monitoring team, the Office of the National Security Adviser and the PINL to engage the federal government in order for those areas to be cleaned up.
He said: “Crude oil theft has taken place in our farms, in our environment for a long time now and for all these years the IOCs has not cared to clean up these areas.”
